I got lost in the shower yesterday morning.
Well, not so much lost as spatially disoriented. I could not quite remember where I was.
You have probably had the same experience on a trip. You wake up wondering just where the strange bedroom you are in is located.
My confusion is understandable. This has been a rather busy travel year so far. In addition to Melaque, I have been in Salem, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Beijing, Shanghai, Atlanta, New Orleans, Nassau, Cartagena, Malaga, Granada, Valencia, Barcelona, Alexandria, Cairo, Aqaba, Safaga, Dubai, Bend, Myrtle Point, Powers, Diamond Lake, Lake Tahoe, Reno, Morro Bay, San Miguel de Allende, Morelia, and Pátzcuaro.
My mother sent me an email yesterday welcoming me "home" to Melaque. The quotation marks are hers. She knows "home" is merely the space I occupy at any moment.
But her email started a thought avalanche. I spent a good deal of time in Pátzcuaro dreaming about living high above the lake. At one point, I had similar dreams of living in Barra de Navidad -- the town on the east end of our bay.
Barra was my third choice for real estate. The first was Puerto Vallarta. Friends told me how inexpensive housing was there. "They are almost giving away beach houses."
It turned out their idea of "giving away" was $600,000. I had forgotten their idea of house prices was formed in southern California during the bubble.
The second choice was La Manzanilla. The prices were more affordable. And the views were stunning.
But the complications were immense. The houses are built on ejido land, and the regularization process was -- well, let's just say, Mexican.
Then I discovered Barra de Navidad. On the beach. Not a gringo stronghold.
No ejido issues.
I drove through Barra on Tuesday morning. Just to see if the dream of owning land near the beach is still alive.
The first thing I noticed was the number of "for sale" signs that have sprouted during the summer. And I am not certain what that means. It looked as if the landed class was planning an evacuation.
Of course, it may reflect a perception that the real estate market is starting to rise from its tomb. That is the optimistic view.
A view with a patina of cynicism (which is just another word for "realism) is that some expatriates have simply given up on the Mexican dream. Either for reasons of health. Security. Finances. Or to avoid the inevitable rise of ocean tides that will turn their dreams into a trip to Atlantis.
Just how serious people are about selling is another question. Some of the houses are grand affairs. With jaw-dropping price tags.
But there are also what seem to be some nice bargains.
When I first looked at it, it was extremely overpriced. But in the four years I have been watching it, the price has gradually declined. Something that does not seem to happen very often in Mexico.
I am going to take another look at it.
If, for no other reason, than to see if it is possible to buy love.
You are right about the prices seldom going down - although the odds are better if the property is gringo owned (two of our three Mexico casas were formerly owned by gringos).
ReplyDeleteSeems like a good time to buy and there is some recovery showing in the U.S. housing market.
It doesn't look familiar--is it in VO?
ReplyDeleteLooks like the fraccionamiento in Barra
ReplyDeleteThat first one (the lot) looks like on the canal in Barra so that won't be a bargain. If you even consider building a place better plan on no travels during construction
ReplyDeleteThought it said Melaque
ReplyDeleteIs there a garden area behind that wall? Happy house hunting or dreaming.
ReplyDeleteThere is a patio between the living quarters and the bedroom. But nothing like my laguna garden.
ReplyDeleteMy only issue is deciding where I want to live.
ReplyDeleteIn Barra. Over by the Kiosko.
ReplyDeleteYup.
ReplyDeleteI created the ambiguity. But it is in Barra. It also turns out that the house that drew me to this area is back on the market.
ReplyDeleteIf I buy (even if I do not build), my travel days are going to be restricted. I am even thinking of buying a dog.
ReplyDeleteFell for it, gracias -- caught up with this one, though. More awake now.
ReplyDeleteAh, si, "well-situated."
ReplyDeleteLost in the shower? Spatially disoriented? It happens to the best of travelers, and is sometimes referred to as dissociate fugue.
ReplyDeleteOwning a home has some advantages. You can use the home as a base for traveling. However, I think with home ownership there can be a lost of a certain freedom. George Carlin said we need a home to store our stuff.
And I have been trying to shed The Stuff syndrome. We will see how this mood develops. Today I look at the house in the last photograph and the La Manzanilla house on Friday. Tomorrow I look at the house that first drew me to the Barra area.
ReplyDeleteIt is indeed. The bigger house is in the country -- away from the beach.
ReplyDeleteThere is a big difference between Michoacan on the lake and Barra/Melaque. You and I both like both places.
ReplyDeleteI have been thinking you might move to Patzcuaro. I will be interested to see what you decide to do.
That makes two of us. I am interested in what I decide to do. And I have no idea how all of this will turn out.
ReplyDeleteCould only be for all the "Stuff". :)
ReplyDeleteAnd more stuff. Now I will need furniture.
ReplyDeleteI´ve been drawn to buying houses, but sooner or later I feel like moving on. The houses are kept only until there is an economic advantage to sell. Well, a dog would nice. Perhaps when I´m really old I might like a house, and a nice dog.
ReplyDeleteIs it possible to purchase a home and actually own it, no strings?If I remember correctly gringos could not buy property.
ReplyDeleteNo foreigner may own Mexican real property in fee simple in the forbidden zone -- 65 miles from the border or 35 miles from the coast line.
ReplyDeleteBut Mexicans know how to get around their own revolutionary myths. Instead of a fee simple deed, the buyer can set up a bank trust with a 50 year ownership -- renewable twice. (I am not certain about the twice. Nor do I really care because the first 50 years will suit me just fine.)
That is an issue here on the coast. And I thought about it today. I am very excised about the idea of having a new place to live. But once I buy, I know it will be difficult to sell the place in the future. I may be putting down inadvertent roots.
ReplyDeletePaul and I looked at a very large home in Barra two years ago - 4 bedrooms for $85,000US. Decided owning something just ties you down and sets up all kinds of responsibilities that I don't want any more. SO glad we didn't do it for many reasons.
ReplyDeleteI have now looked at two of the three houses I find interesting. The third is tomorrow -- in La Manzanilla. I may even create a poll once I get down to deciding. It will be the equivalent of asking the reading public who I should marry.
ReplyDeleteWe may have been looking at the same house as Barbara. 4 bedrooms, 85,000.00,on the market for a long time. We were actually getting quite serious about it and then the deal on our house in Patzcuaro fell through. Probably just as well, I doubt I could handle the heat. I do miss the ocean though.
ReplyDelete